The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Corylus plant (hazelnut, filbert), botanically known as Corylus avellana, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Tonda Pacifica.’
The new Corylus resulted from a controlled cross of female parent ‘Tonda Gentile delle Langhe’ and male parent OSU 23.024 made in 1981 by Maxine M. Thompson. Neither parent was protected by a plant patent. Hybrid seeds from the cross were harvested in August 1981, stratified, and seedlings grown in the greenhouse during the summer of 1982. From this cross, total of 95 seedling trees were planted in the field in Corvallis in October, 1982. ‘Tonda Pacifica’ was discovered and selected as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Corvallis, Oreg., USA. It was originally assigned the designation OSU 228.084, which indicates the row and tree location of the original seedling. ‘Tonda Gentile delle Langhe’ is an important cultivar in Piemonte, northern Italy. The male parent, OSU 23.024, is from a controlled cross of ‘Barcelona’ and ‘Extra Ghiaghli’. ‘Extra Ghiaghli’, obtained as scions from Greece, is a clone of the important Turkish cultivar ‘Tombul’.
The new cultivar was asexually reproduced by rooted suckers annually for seven years in Corvallis, Oreg. The new cultivar was also asexually propagated by whip grafting in Corvallis, Oreg. The unique features of this new Corylus are stable and reproduce true-to-type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.